Stuck in the Middle with You
by AngelWingsAndSatansPitchfork
Summary: Purgatory; a spiritual plane between heaven and hell. You were the guardian of this plane but for centuries, you were alone. A few people starting to show up out of the blue. More specifically; Akatsuki. Chapters written in ficlets ReaderX?
1. Faith

~001 - Faith~

You walked along the soft cloud in your bare feet. You were wandering around Purgatory all on your own. For those who do not know, purgatory was a place you were sent to after you die. It neither heaven nor hell and lies in a spiritual plane between the two. Despite being the keeper of this empty, desolate plane, you still didn't entirely grasp the reason some were sent here. You just presumed that the person had too much sin for heaven and not enough for hell.

You sighed as a gust of wind blew. You've been here for centuries and have yet to see a soul. Needless to say, you felt lonely. Or at least, you thought you did. Does one feel lonely when it's been years since they were with someone?

Your gripped the bottom of your white dress. You were dressed somewhat heavenly. I mean, you could pass as an angel easily. You wore a plain white halter-neck dress that came to just above your knees. It was sleeveless but weather isn't a regular occurrence here. You walked bare footed; not because you didn't have shoes but because you liked the feeling off the fluffy cloud between your toes. You also had a golden halo floating above your [h/c] head.

Let's stray back to the weather for a moment. Now, of course, since you're walking on cloud it would be hard to believe that weather could even exist at all but, there was cloud above you too. You couldn't remember but you think the cloud was the same level at was on Earth. You noticed when you were first sent here, the weather seemed to be in tune with your emotions. When you were sad, the light, that you noticed seem to filter down from the clouds above, seemed to dim into twilight perhaps? And the cloud above you darkened into a grey. When you cried, the clouds changed to black and rain began to fall. You weren't aware of what other weather conditions you could summon as you'd only experienced these so far.

At the moment, it was calm and light filtered through the fluffy white clouds above. You were calm, therefore the weather was calm and peaceful. You wondered what it would be like if you were actually happy......

You sighed, causing yet another gust of wind. You stopped walking for a moment and looked at the gateway into purgatory. It wasn't a huge golden gateway like you imagined heaven's was. It was just a large wooden gate painted white. Nothing special for this non-special plane. How you longed for someone to walk through that gate. _Anyone _at all. Even if you didn't get along, someone to talk to would be nice.

You let out yet another sigh and headed to the large building just to the left of the gate. This is where the souls who were sent here were supposed to reside. Only you lived in the large, empty building at the moment. So lonely.....

You looked up to the clouds above. He must've made this plane for a reason. Why make something that only you, the guardian, inhabited? Someone will come eventually. A soft smile spread across your features. You just had to have faith.


	2. Dirge

~002 - Dirge~  


  
You left the building next to the gate to wander around purgatory. There wasn't much to do here but wander around. The place was basically like a desert - nothing around and barely any people to be found. The difference being, of course, instead of sand, there was cloud, it wasn't as hot and you were the only life form to be found. And you were dead. 

You did discover one thing to pass the time though. You stopped randomly and knelt down on the cloud. You placed your hand flat onto the cloud and began to wave it around. You kept doing this until a hole was formed, big enough for you to peek down at the living below. 

Looking through the hole, you could see a blonde in a black cloak sitting on what looked to be a giant bird. As he flew through the air, another blonde in an orange jumpsuit along with a silver haired masked man chased him. You tilted your head and wondered why. But, then again, the world would have changed drastically since you lived there. Well, lived period. 

All of a sudden, music started playing. It was very quiet and at first, you thought you were hearing things. When it didn't stop, you thought to investigate. You quickly covered the hole back you with more cloud and ran towards the sound. As you got closer, the music got louder. Judging by the slow tempo and the sad mood, it was a dirge - a funeral song. 

You kept running towards the music until you reached the gates. It seemed to be coming from behind them. You stared at them confused for a moment, then your eyes widened. The gates slowly opened, letting a bright light through the narrow gap. You shielded your eyes with your hand and squinted, trying to see the first person you'd have seen in years. 

All you could see was a faint black outline. You could make out he or she was short in height and had short, messy hair. As they stepped out of the light, the gates behind them closed, and the music faded until all was quiet again. You could see him better now. He was a short man with messy red hair. He was shirtless and only wore a pair of black pants. He had a white circle on his chest above his heart with a red kanji on it. His body seemed kind of different - like it was made from wood. Did all humans have wooden bodies now? Judging by his expression, he was confused and..... slightly pissed. 

He looked around until his eyes settled on you and then began to approach you. You tensed. You haven't talked to anyone in years. What if you don't understand all this new fangled slang? Actually, scratch that. What if you don't speak his language? Dammit! How do you say 'purgatory' in Swahili again? "Where am I?" he asked you, not even bothering with a hello. 

"Purgatory!" you replied with a smile, glad you could understand him. 

He smirked. "I'm not in hell?" he asked and chuckled slightly. "Excellent!" He looked around and frowned. "Where is everyone?" 

You shrugged. "This is everyone!" 

He threw you a deadpan look before sighing and rubbing his temples. "I guess this really is hell....." 

"It's not so bad, really!" you assured him. Well, tried to. "Come on! I'll show you around! I'm [Name] by the way. The guardian of purgatory!" you introduced yourself with a friendly smile. 

"Sasori." he stated. 

"Well..... it's nice to meet you Sasori!" you chirped, being the nice, friendly guardian you always thought you'd be. 

Sasori just rolled his eyes. "Whatever....." 

You just kept smiling, even though it was rather forced at this stage. You'd always imagined the first person who'll show up here, would be nice and friendly and you'd be BBFs. Not someone like this guy. You shrugged. You'll get along with him. Well, try to. After all, beggars can't be choosers.


	3. Dead End

~003 - Dead End~

You guessed it has being roughly a week since Sasori had joined you. He only ever spoke to you when you spoke to him or he wanted to ask you question about purgatory. He seemed to accept the fact that he wasn't in hell but he seemed to believe that he wouldn't be here for long. He was obsessed with the idea that'll he move onto heaven or hell eventually, no matter how many times you tried to tell him otherwise.

At the moment, Sasori was walking on the clouds. Every so often he'd stop and wave some clouds out of the way so he could peek down at the living world, like you had showed him the day before. He seemed to be looking for something.

"Sasori-san?" you addressed him as you approached the puppet master. "What are you doing?"

Sasori sighed and covered the hole he had just made. "I'm looking for my partner, Deidara." he told you and stood up. He stretched his arms above his head. "I'm curious to see how he's dealing with my death!"

You blinked at him. His partner? Does that mean he prefers..... men to women? When you were alive, you grew up in the era where homosexuals were shunned, women were inferior to men and witches were burned at the stake. So you were a little uncomfortable with his situation.

You smiled weakly. "I'm sure he'll be devastated!" you told him.

Sasori scoffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he danced on my grave! If he even bothered to bury me in the first place....." he said, rolling his eyes.

You smiled sweetly at him. "If he really loves you, I'm sure he would've throw you an extravagant funeral!"

Sasori chuckled. "Deidara doesn't even like me, never mind love me. And if he does, he has a funny way of showing it....."

You blinked at him and tilted your head. "Then why did you wed?"

Sasori looked at you strangely. "We didn't....."

"But your partners!"

"WORK partners!"

"Oh....." you said, your cheeks flushing a bright red.

Sasori noticed the temperature of the plain rose due to your embarrassment. He had yet to get used to the freak weather that occurred in tune to your emotions. Luckily, he won't have to experience it for much longer. "I can't wait until I move on......" he muttered.

You sighed. "You won't move on..... This is as far as you'll go!" you told him for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Oh yeah? Well how would you know?" he asked, crossing his arms. "You told me yourself you don't know why either of us are or what our purpose here is! You keep asking me to accept that this is a dead end but why won't you accept that maybe it isn't? Maybe this a waiting room for the next life! Maybe after staying here for a certain amount of time, you move on to heaven or hell! Why won't you even consider that?!"

You looked at him, teary eyed. The clouds above darkened into a dark grey and rain threatened to fall. "Because I've being here all my afterlife. If there was even a chance I'd move on to the next plain, I think I would know by now!"

Sasori eyed you for a moment before speaking. "Maybe this is a dead end for you but I don't see why I have to stay!" he stated and brushed past you, heading off to the mansion.

You looked down at your feet. He seemed to believe that this wasn't a dead end and that he will move on. Maybe, it was better to let him believe. Just because you had lost all hope of moving on, didn't mean he had to too. After all, in a place like this, if you don't have hope, you don't have anything at all.

Unknown to you, there was a purpose. You had just yet to discover it.


	4. Sorrow

~ 004 - Sorrow ~

It took you awhile but you managed to patch up your relationship with Sasori (not that there was much of a relationship to begin with). You were walking on the clouds, as you did every day, basking in the warm light that filtered down. You were in a good mood so the weather was nice as well. Sasori learned it was better to stay on your good side. There were less thunder storms and less chance to be struck down by a lightning bolt.

You approached the puppet master. He was bent over a hole in the clouds and was very engrossed with the scene he was witnessing. He must have been there for nearly an hour now. You wondered what he was watching. You rarely found something that interested you when you peeked down at the living, and you were much more easily impressed than Sasori.

"Sasori-san?"

He held a finger to his lips, indicating for you to stay quiet. He waved you over to him. You eyed him skeptically before kneeling down next to him and glancing through the hole he made. Below you, was a silver haired man suspended in the air above a large hole. A pineapple headed teenager in a green vest stood opposite him. They were talking about something, the kid obviously pissed whereas the man seemed quite amused. The teenager walked out of view and an explosion went off, encasing the man in a ball of flames.

Sasori chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day that masochistic b*stard would get himself killed! Or at least, something close to it...."

You tilted your head. "Was he a friend of yours Sasori-san?"

"Hardly!" Sasori said, rolling his eyes. "He was more of a colleague and an annoying one at that. He's much worse than the brat though and that is saying something...." Sasori had ranted to you about Deidara a few times. Mostly about how incompetent he was and how he had no sense of art.

Suddenly, music began to sound throughout purgatory. You grinned and ran towards the gate. You never thought someone else would show up so soon after Sasori did. In fact, you were almost certain it would be just the two of you for another couple of centuries.

It didn't take long for Sasori to catch up to you. "[Name]? What's going on?" he yelled over the dirge.

You smiled at him. "Someone else is joining us!"

You both turned to the gates as they begin opening, the familiar golden light breaking through. You could see a figure's silhouette approach you. The person seemed to be quite tall, easily towering over you and Sasori. When the door shut and the light disappeared, you could make the man out more clearly. His arms were decorated in stitches and a mask covered his face. The waterfall mark was engraved on a plate on his hat.

Sasori smirked. "Well, look what the cat dragged in!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Is Hidan here?"

"Not yet...."

"Yet?"

"I watched the equivalent of his death. He'll be along soon."

You cleared your throat, interrupting their conversation. The two Akatsuki members glanced over at you. You smiled softly and gave a slight wave. Sasori sighed. "Kakuzu, [Name]; [Name], Kakuzu!" he introduced you.

You extended your hand. "Nice to meet you!" you said, giving him a welcoming smile.

"Likewise!" Kakuzu stated and turned back to his wooden friend. "So how did he do it?" You retracted your hand and scratched the back of your neck with it.

Sasori looked at you. "Do you mind?" he asked. "We'd like some privacy!"

"O-of course, Sasori-san!" you said, a fake smiled plastered over your face. You turned and walked back to the mansion. You frowned and the sky darkened.

Why did you get the feeling you were going to be on your own a lot of the time now? It depressed you, knowing that there were people there to talk to, but them ignoring you and not wanting to talk to you. You let out a heavy sigh, causing a large gust of wind to blow. You looked down at your feet as you headed back, paying no attention to the rain that began to fall from the clouds above.


	5. Red

****

****

~005 - Red~

A few days after Kakuzu's arrival, it became very clear that Sasori would rather spend time with him than you. Not that he spent much time with you before but that's beside the point. You expected this to happen; yet, something deep down thought that maybe there was a chance it wouldn't. Well, you were proved wrong.

Kakuzu and Sasori stuck to each other like glue. They didn't always talk to each other and they mostly sat in silence. You felt left out to say the least. You had tried to join them several times but was always shunned out. Well, to be fair, sometimes the awkward silences were killing you (metaphorically speaking) and you left willingly.

Still, you were alone most of the time, just like before Sasori showed up. You hadn't realised how attached you had grown to company until now and once again felt lonely. You wished and prayed to whatever deity was above that someone else will come to keep you company. That someone just happened to be a swearing Jashinist.

"What the f*ck do you mean Jashin isn't here?"

Hidan arrived when Kakuzu and Sasori slunk off to the mansion to sleep. You'd sprinted out here to the greet the newcomer like you were supposed to, but mainly, you just wanted someone to talk to. Pity it was someone with a sailor's vocabulary and part of a religious cult.

"W- well, this is purgatory and the gods don't reside here. They're-"

"Gods? What the f*ck do you mean gods? Jashin is the only true god, not Buddha, or Jesus or that *sshole-"

"Please Hidan-san! Calm down!" you said exasperated and raised your hands. The Jashinist was seeing red and was already more furious than you can handle.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? Why the F*CK should I calm down? Are-"

"Because you're being loud enough to wake the dead!" Kakuzu interrupted him as he and Sasori approached the two of you. "Sasori and I are more than proof!" Never in your entire afterlife had you being glad to see Kakuzu.

"So you f*cking died too, huh?" Hidan asked, smirking slightly. "And here I f*cking thought you left me to die in a f*cking hole!"

"Just because I told you to die in a hole, doesn't mean I'd let you. I'd rather avoid another 'teamwork' lecture from Pein, thank you very much!" Kakuzu said, crossing his arms.

Hidan shot his former partner a dirty look before smirking at Sasori. "I can't f*cking believe you'd let yourself be killed by a pink-haired b*tch and your own f*cking granny! Actually, I can! HA!"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "It's nice to see you haven't changed since I died. Actually, it isn't. Ha!"

".......Are you mocking me?"

"Yes."

"F*CK YOU!"

"Hidan-san! Sasori-san! Please don't argue!" you attempted to stop them. Emphasis on attempt.

"I wouldn't mock you if you weren't so stupid."

"I second that."

"Both of you, SHUT THE F*CK UP or I'll sacrifice you to Jashin-sama!"

"A little late for that now, don't you think?" Sasori asked, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, I don't see him anywhere... do you?"

"I told you not to waste time or money on something that doesn't exist!" Kakuzu added, shaking his head.

"JASHIN F*CKING EXISTS DAMMIT!"

You used this as your chance to escape before the argument could escalate further. You sighed as you walked over the soft cloud. Everything was changing around here. First, before Sasori, it was quiet. Then when he showed, it wasn't so quiet anymore. Kakuzu showed up next and managed to make it quieter and now Hidan, well, you wouldn't be surprised if you never heard silence again.

You looked down at your feet, watching them as you walked. You noticed something... strange. A splash of red was visible on the white cloud. You had never seen that before.... Looking up, you noticed a trail of the red splodges. Curiosity got the better of you and you followed it, wondering how they got there.

After following the trail for several minutes, you realised what the red splodges were. You recognized the pungent scent but hadn't smelled it since you were alive.

It was blood.

But the question is....

Who's?


	6. Black

**~006 - Black~**

You continued to sprint towards your destination, your eyes firmly placed on the figures in the distance. Of course, it was possible to bleed in purgatory. Just because you died, didn't mean you lost all your blood and rainbows poured out of your cuts or something. 'Living' in purgatory was like living on earth, except you couldn't die because, well, you were already dead.

You skidded to a stop in front of the three men, causing some cloud to rise into the air. You placed your hands onto your knees as you panted heavily, out of breath from your long run. The wind blew wildly as you did this.

The three deceased Akatsuki members looked at you curiously. "What the f*ck is wrong with you?" Hidan asked, scrunching up his face a little.

As soon as you caught your breath and the wind stopped, you began to speak. "Have any of you guys bled over there by any chance?" you asked, pointing in the direction you had just run from.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"We can f*cking bleed here?"

"I don't bleed."

You bit your lip looking around the clouds warily. "Oh please no..." you muttered as the clouds above you darkened. "Not now..." Tears threatened to escape from your eyes, as droplets of rain began to drop down in a light drizzle.

"[Name], what's going on?" Kakuzu asked.

Ignoring his query, you sprinted towards the spot of blood you had found earlier. Sasori and Kakuzu called after you as Hidan just shook his head. "F*cking weirdo...."

* * *

You knelt down on the soft cloud, and trailed a finger over the scarlet substance. You looked at the dripping blood on your finger as it dripped down onto the white fluff. Biting your lip, you clenched your hand into a fist and shut your eyes. You had only one idea on who that blood belonged to, someone - or something - that you met the very first time you had entered purgatory. It was a brief meeting and no words were spoken. The image of that being was enough to strike fear into your heart.

Your [e/c] opened to see a sight you didn't expect to see. The blood on the cloud's surface darkened into a pitch black and began to expand, covering more ground. You feel back in surprise, as you watched the blood grow up off the cloud into a tall, thin sort of cylinder. The substance grew into a point at the top, and a large square shape evolved on top. Two stick like shadows emerged from either side of the black body, and two thin, jagged hands opened up at the end. Two long antennae shaped shadows sprouted from the head and folded down, the tips of the antennae on the same level as the glowing yellow eyes.

"Hello [Name]."

You stared up at the being, your heart thumping hard against your rib cage. "W-Who..... what are you?" you breathed, your voice shaky.

A large toothy grin appeared on the being's face. The teeth were large and pointed, and they gleamed a pearly white.

"My name is Akuma no Tamashī*, but most know me as Satan, or the devil."

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **

***Roughly translates as 'Demon Soul'.**


	7. Enemies

~007 - Enemies~

A large toothy grin appeared on the being's face. The teeth were large and pointed, and they gleamed a pearly white.

"My name is Akuma no Tamashī, but most know me as Satan, or the devil."

Your eyes widened up at the figure. You noticed that his lips didn't move when he speaks. Another thing to add to the ever growing list of things about him that creep you out. "S- S- Satan?"

"Please, call me Akuma."

"...I'd rather not..."

"I don't recall giving you a choice."

You gulped. "O-Okay Akuma-sama..." you said, eyeing him nervously. "But... what are you doing here?"

Akuma's malicious grin grew. "Why, to talk to you dear [Name]! I have a proposition for you that you just can't refuse. And by 'can't', I mean 'not allowed to'. I can't have you thinking you have freedom again, can I~?"

* * *

"Hmm..."

"Is there a problem, Sasori?" Kakuzu asked, glancing down at the puppet master as they walked towards the mansion, to get out of the pouring rain.

"Is anyone else wondering where [Name] has being for such a long time?" Sasori asked the zombie brothers. "And what could've got her so worked up that it's raining?"

"Anyone else wondering why there's a huge-ass MANSION in the f*cking SKY?" Hidan exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the tall, brilliant white building in front of them. The huge ebony doorway was placed in the centre of the front of the mansion, two bay windows on either side and another five making up the top floor.

"Where else are we supposed to live and store provisions?" Sasori remarked.

"We're f*cking dead! We don't need to eat!"

"Yes, but we still feel hungry!" Kakuzu pointed out as they approached the entrance to the building.

Sasori stood up on the door step and twisted the knob. "Huh..." he said, and tried pushing the door open, keeping the knob twisted. "It's locked..."

"Then take out the f*cking key and open it!" Hidan yelled at him. He wrapped his arms around his shivering half-naked body and glared but at the clouds that let out the dreadful rain.

"I don't have a key, baka!" Sasori scowled, staring at the door.

Hidan shoved the puppet master out of the way and began pounding his fists on the door. "OPEN THE F*CKING DOOR!" he shouted through. " LET US OUT OF THIS JASHIN-DAMNED RAIN!"

"W-Who is it...?" your timid voice called through.

"Who the f*ck do you think it is?" Hidan yelled, getting impatient. "There's nobody f*cking here but you, me, the money f*cker and the master of sex puppets now OPEN THE F*CKING DOOR!"

The lock clicked open and the Jashinist used this as his chance to plough through the heavy door and into shelter. Sasori and Kakuzu hurried in after him, the latter closing the door behind him. "Any specific reason you felt the need to lock us out?" he asked.

"It wasn't you four I was trying to lock out..." you admitted, biting your lip and rubbing your forearm. Sasori and Kakuzu sent each other confused glances as Hidan stormed through the mansion looking for a 'Jashin-damned towel'.

"Then who were you trying to lock out?"

"W-Well," you began, smiling weakly. "In the short time I left you guys, I may have gained myself a new archenemy..."


	8. Strangers

~008 - Strangers~****

It had being roughly a week since Akuma had shown up and luckily for you, he hadn't made any appearances since. You refused to tell the boys what had happened and why he appeared. Although, you still weren't one hundred percent sure yourself. All you could really figure out was that it was all for his own sick amusement.

Presently, the four of you were lounging around outside the mansion. Kakuzu had created a hole in the clouds and discovered something that caught all three of the boys' interests. What you thought was a blonde girl until he ripped off his shirt, was fighting a raven-haired teen. Watching this fight, you were able to determine that things have changed greatly since you were alive. For starters, you don't recall being able to shoot lightning from your hands…

"Come on Barbie!" Hidan yelled down at the cloud. "It's only Itachi's brother for f*ck's sake! You should have beaten that bstard by now!"

"I don't know…" Kakuzu contemplated. "Sasuke is obviously quite smart. Maybe even more so than Deidara. He could – and probably will – send him up here with us."

"I f*cking hope so!" he exclaimed, glaring through the hole. "Everyone up here is f*cking boring and I need that bitch up here to liven things up!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a bitch a female dog?" you asked, once again confused by all this slang that Hidan uses. You found it hard to understand him sometimes and according to Sasori, you should just presume anything he says that you don't understand is a cuss word.

"It can also be used as an insult," Sasori informed you, confirming his earlier statement.

"Oh!" you said in realisation. "That makes a lot more sense…" you said, smiling sheepishly and laughing awkwardly.

Suddenly a burst of strong wind blew up through the whole after the ear-splitting sound of an explosion. Your [h/c] locks and Sasori's red hair blew along with the end. Kakuzu held down his headgear to prevent it blowing away. Hidan just swore. "The bstard blew himself up! That melodramatic Barbie f*cking killed himself!"

"It doesn't surprise me," Sasori said, rolling his eyes. "I always knew he's kill himself because of his bombs one day."

Kakuzu nodded in agreement. "All that surprises me is that Hidan knows what the word 'melodramatic' means and can use it correctly in a sentence."

"Shut the f*ck up!"

The loud dirge music began playing from God knows where, signalling the Purgatory's next arrival, most likely that blonde you had just watched die. You got up from the cloud and made your way towards the gates to greet him. Sasori tagged along with you, leaving Hidan to complain to Kakuzu on how his opponent managed to survive.

The gates were closing when you and Sasori reached them. The bewildered blonde looked at his surroundings curiously, obviously wondering where he is. His blue eyes (eye?) fell on you two and it widened. "S-SASORI-DANNA?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Brat," came the red head's casual reply.

You had half expected him to run and hug him tightly or something, but he didn't. "Where are we, hmm?" he asked as he slowly approached you two.

"Purgatory!" you told him, smiling sweetly. "I'm [Name], the guardian of this plane. What's your name?" you asked, stretching a hand towards him.

"Deidara, un!" he introduced himself. Your eyes widened when you felt something wet against your palm. You pulled your hand away quickly, earning a smirk from Deidara. He showed you the pink tongue on his palm as an explanation. He turned to Sasori. "Is that Uchiha here? Did I kill him?"

"No. You missed."

"You have GOT to be kidding him, un!" Deidara yelled, face palming. "I killed myself for NOTHING?" he screeched, clenching his teeth together. A couple of seconds later, he exhaled, his temper diffusing away. "Did I at least get Tobi, hm?"

Before Sasori could play, the funeral music played again and gates began to open. The silhouette of a tall figure was spotted, the shadow of a scarf blowing behind him as it ran towards you. "SENPAIIII~!" it screeched before tackling the blonde. "TOBI IS SO SCARED!"

The doors closed shut, once again cutting purgatory off from the living world.

**A/N: [Name] died around the time the Sage of Six paths founded Ninjutsu, meaning she doesn't know anything about chakra and ninja techniques. :)**

**I suppose you're wondering about Tobi, hmm? Especially considering Madara is still alive and kicking in the current manga chapters? Well, all will be revealed… in our next instalment~! D **

**Thanks for all the messages and rates! You guys are awesome! X3**


	9. Death

~009 - Death~

Tobi quickly became your favourite out of the boys that joined you in purgatory. He was much more carefree than the more serious ones, although both Deidara and Hidan goofed around together quite a lot. It had also come to your attention that the poor guy was more of an outcast among the group, than a part of it, which didn't seem fair to you. Even his so called 'sempai' shunned him.

There was one thing you had wondered about him though – how he died. You knew how everyone else passed away, whether it was because they told you or because you had watched it yourself through the clouds. But, Tobi didn't say a word and you didn't see a thing. Everyone else just presumed he had got caught in Deidara's explosion, but something told you this wasn't the case.

You had tried asking the masked man, but he would quickly the change the subject or drag you into the mansion to play hide and seek. This, of course, made you more curious and suspicious than you were to begin with, and the only way to get rid of curiosity it to feed it.

You decided the best way to get Tobi to tell you this supposed 'secret', was to trick it out of him. You didn't feel it was right to resort to this idea, but desperate times call for desperate measures and right now, you were _very _desperate.

"Tobi-kun?" you called to the masked boy sitting down on the fluffy white cloud, poking Deidara to try and get the already irritated blonde's attention.

"Yes, [Name]-chan~?" Tobi chirped in reply. Purgatory's resident bomber decided to use this distraction to make his escape and bolted towards the mansion.

"I was just wondering…" you began, biting your lip slightly and dipping your big toe into the cloud. "Do you maybe want to play a game with me?"

"Tobi will go hide~!"

"A different game!" you said quickly, before he could run off. Tobi stopped in his tracks and turned around, interested. You showed him the golden coin in your palm. "I was thinking, we could flip this coin and if it lands on heads, I win and if it lands on tails, you lose."

Tobi nodded in understanding and held the bottom of his mask in a thinking pose. "Does Tobi get a prize if he wins~?"

"The loser has to tell the winner how he or she died… Is that alright?"

Tobi nodded and took the coin from you. "Okay but Tobi's going to flip it, [Name]-chan. Tobi doesn't want you cheat on him~!" he teased, wagging a gloved finger and you.

You bit your lip at his words, feeling guilty because you were cheating him, having set it up so you'd win no matter what he flipped. The poor boy just didn't realise it. You opened your mouth to tell the masked Akatsuki member about your plan, your conscious not allowing you to trick him as planned but he had already tossed the coin into the air before you had a chance to speak.

The coin glimmered in the light as it span high in the air, before falling into Tobi's gloved hand. He placed the coin on the back of his other hand and glanced down at through his single eyehole. "Heads. [Name]-chan wins~!" Tobi sang and handed the coin back to you.

You pocketed the coin before sitting down on the soft cloud beneath you. You patted the spot next to you, a silent gesture to get Tobi to sit, which he did, and began his story. "Well… Senpai didn't really blow up Tobi…" he said, poking at the cloud nervously. "T-Tobi was… Tobi was murdered!"

"M-Murdered?"

He nodded. "Tobi was running away from the fight like Deidara-senpai said to and met this really weird guy. He kinda looked like Itachi-san but reeeeally old and very mean! And then he looked at Tobi with these red eyes which made Tobi feel reeeeeally sleepy and… and then… and then Tobi fell asleep and when… when he woke up, h- he seen Deidara-senpai and Sasori-san and [Name]-chan and lots of cloud and… and… and… and TOBI WAS SO SCARED!" he exclaimed and tackled you into a tight hug.

So Tobi was murdered? Just like the men before him… Well, to be technical, Deidara had committed suicide but it was done in such a way, it could be considered murder. There were many questions running through your mind as you thought about their deaths, but one question stood out amongst the others.

Who were these guys?

**A/n:**

**Yeah I'm messing with canon. But why not? I killed off Hidan and he's still technically alive. Although, to be fair, Kishimoto only announced that fact after I killed him. X_x Oh well. Imay mess with canon a little later in the series aswell, but it won't be anything drastic.**

***sigh* This story as sort of become a side project, I've discovered. I prefer writing my other stories now but for the rest of the Summer, I promise to update this once a week. After that… we'll see.**


	10. Sixth Sense

~010 – Sixth Sense~

You were starting to think these Akatsuki guys had some sort of sixth sense. You had noticed a small pattern when it came to who joined you in purgatory. The guys rarely ever looked at through the clouds to the world below them. Many of them claimed there was nothing interesting down there to see and that watching people was boring and/or rude, as they weren't giving them privacy.

So, when they did find something that interested them, mildly surprised you. And the majority of the time, it was another Akatsuki member (you had still yet to find out what that group did… some sort of male book club perhaps?) fight they were watching, the fight would end with a death and that person would walk through the gates to join you on this plane. It made you wonder if they could just sense when one of them was going to die.

This thought was running through your head as you approached the boys, who were all sitting around another hole in the clouds. You peeked over Sasori's head, as he was the shortest, and looked down at the view below. As you predicted, they were watching two raven haired males fight.

"Come on Itachi, un! Kill him! Avenge me!" Deidara yelled down at them, despite neither of the boys being able to hear him.

"Why the f*ck would Itachi want to avenge you?" Hidan asked him, raising a silver eyebrow.

"Besides brat," Sasori began. "Sasuke didn't kill you, you killed yourself. If Itachi for some unexplainable reason wanted to avenge you, he'd have to kill you, not him."

Tobi blinked at him from beneath his mask. "But why would Itachi-san want to kill Deidara-senpai if Deidara-senpai is already dead?"

"Danna didn't mean it literally, baka!" Deidara barked at him, glaring at him from across the hole. As per usual, he took out his frustration on the masked good boy as he crossed his arms and sulked.

You sweat dropped at his actions, before diverting your attention back to the scene below. The taller boy appeared to be winning, and was reaching towards the younger one's eyes. But, before he could gauge them out, he paused, smiled, poked him in the forehead and then collapsed to the ground. You all watched shocked, clearly not expecting that to happen. No one really knew what to say to this, except Hidan.

"What the f*cking hell?"

And with that, the dirge began playing again, signalling the next spirit's appearance. You jogged over to the gates with, surprisingly, the rest of the group in tow. The gates opened and a silhouette became visible. The shadow walked cautiously into your plane and blinked at your party as the gates closed behind him. His black eyes were focused on one person in particular. "Madara-sama…?"

"Nope~! Tobi~!" Tobi chirped in response before running over to him and pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Tobi missed you Itachi-san~!"

Itachi clearly didn't know what to think of the masked man, and resolved to simply patting his back. He scanned the crowd that gathered, his eyes filled with recognition. Until he spotted you. You smiled at him and stretched out your arms to the side.

"I'm [Name]. Welcome to purgatory!"

**A/n: A very short chapter this time, but that seemed like a good place to end it. And so, Itachi joins the mix. I'm starting to run out of Akatsuki members, which means the plot will be meeting up with us soon. Excited~? Also, double digits! :D**


End file.
